The present invention relates to dispensing brushes in general, and more particularly to a two piece brush for the dispensing and application of material in gel form, which is particularly useful in a wet shaving process.
Various dispensing brushes for grooming and other purposes have been suggested in the prior art, the brushes generally containing a fluid or powder dispersed throughout the brush by manipulation of a valve or other means. Representative of these brushes may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,717 issued to Crimmins directed to a hair and scalp treating device, U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,216 issued to G. J. Sala which discloses a hair grooming comb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,195 issued to L. L. Moses and directed towards a hair comb which includes a fluid reservoir, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,982 issued to R. H. Cox and directed to a dispensing brush for discrete materials such as powder.
In each of the above devices, a valving arrangement is provided for dispensing the material to the brush bristles while the device is in use, and for preventing the material from entry into the brush bristles when the brush is not being employed. In most devices of this type, a plurality of elements are required to provide the valve arrangement, which adds additional bulk to the brush as well as increase in the cost of manufacturing the brush. Thus, these devices often become unwieldy in size as well as expensive to purchase. Recently, the introduction of a gel material for shaving has provided an opportunity for employing a dispensing brush for application purposes, as the material is readily formed into a shaving foam when brushed onto the skin of the user. While such devices have been employed wherein a more or less standard shaving brush is provided with refills of gel material, a need has arisen for a inexpensive, easily manufactured device which may be employed for a number of shaves and discarded after the gel material is depleted.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a brush for dispensing and applying a material in gel form which substantially comprises two pieces, which are simple to manufacture and easily assembled.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a two piece brush for dispensing and applying a material in gel form which is compact when not in use for ease of storage, transport and packaging.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a two piece brush for dispensing and applying a material in gel form wherein the gel is dispensable with the brush oriented for use, and gel is automatically shut off from the dispensing mode when the brush is in the non-use condition.